Various types of replacement heart valve stents and devices are known in the art. In particular, self-expanding medical devices are widely used in percutaneous implantation. Certain types of these devices suffer from a number of drawbacks, however. In particular, when used to replace heart valves, these devices undergo cyclical loading due to the opening and closing of the valve. These cyclical loads can translate into fatigue, which is undesirable because it can cause valve failure having catastrophic implications for the patient. Consequently, there remains a need for a replacement heart valve and anchor with increased fatigue resistance.
The art referred to and/or described above is not intended to constitute an admission that any patent, publication or other information referred to herein is “prior art” with respect to this invention. In addition, this section should not be construed to mean that a search has been made or that no other pertinent information as defined in 37 C.F.R. .sctn.1.56(a) exists.
All US patents and applications and all other published documents mentioned anywhere in this application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Without limiting the scope of the invention a brief summary of some of the claimed embodiments of the invention is set forth below. Additional details of the summarized embodiments of the invention and/or additional embodiments of the invention may be found in the Detailed Description of the Invention below.